Rachel Wolfson
RHE309K
“Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria”
The Postscript to Sigmund Freud’s case analysis of “Dora” describes Freud’s ideas about what went wrong and what went right while treating Dora with his techniques of psychoanalysis for her hysteria.
Freud was a hugely influential psychoanalyst who lived and worked for most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His ideas about dream analysis and the unconscious mind changed the way psychologists and people in general thought about the mind and mental illness. Freud published numerous case studies in which he discussed various patients that he treated (“Sigmund Freud”). He disguised the patients' names. "Dora" is one of his most famous case studies. Dora was a woman whose chief symptom of hysteria was aphonia, or the loss of her voice. She told Freud about her dreams, and he interpreted them, but Dora broke off her analysis with Freud before Freud thought that he had fully treated Dora [“Dora (Case Study)”].
In the reading, Freud's postscript to the case study, Freud points out how Dora's case is in some ways not a good example of psychoanalysis precisely because the analysis was ended prematurely by the patient. Freud says, “I informed her that her complete recovery would require perhaps a year” (Freud 110). Earlier in the postscript he mentions that Dora had only been having treatment for three months. He also points out how the case study is not intended to be a full explanation of the principles of psychoanalysis or the technique of the interpretation of dreams.
Freud emphasizes that the patient's sexuality is the source of her hysteria (Freud 105). He also brings up the idea of transference, which is when a patient transfers certain feelings from one person or thing to another. In Freud's case, he talks about Dora transferring her feelings toward her father to Freud himself, which made it difficult for Freud to treat her. Freud writes, “I neglected the precaution of looking out for the first signs of transference…at the beginning it was clear that I was replacing her father in her imagination…” (Freud 108). Freud blames himself for not noticing this transference in time, which ultimately caused Dora to break off her treatment. Freud considers transference to be an inevitable part of psychoanalysis in the reading. That is, the patient will always transfer some feelings to the analyst.
Even though he did not have much time working with Dora, Freud says, “I am not inclined to put too low a value upon the therapeutic results even of such a fragmentary treatment as Dora’s” (Freud 110). Clearly, Freud believes in his techniques and thinks that his treatment has truly benefitted Dora and has helped her hysteria.
Works Cited
"Dora (Case Study)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
Freud, Sigmund, “Postscript.” Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria. 1905. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. 102-112. Print.
"Sigmund Freud." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
I am curious to know what kinds of treatment Freud gave to his patients in order to cure mental illnesses such as hysteria. It seems as though he spends a lot of time with his patients, therefore it would be hard for the patient not to have some sort of transference of emotions onto the therapist.
ReplyDeleteFreud could have possibly related hysteria to sexuality because it is said to be located in the womb of a woman, which is specific to women only and in relation to sexuality. Also, from personal knowledge, I know that Freud's main theories are related to sexuality and so it is not surprising that he would think problems of hysteria are related.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason that I believe Freud related to sexuality so frequently when dealing with the symptoms and diagnosis of hysteria was because not a lot was known, scientifically, about the differences between men and women, other than the most obvious external limbs and tissue. Being there was no explanation to the cause of hysteria and that it was only occurring in women, it probably seemed logical to name the womb as the cause for hysteria.
ReplyDeleteI believe transference is still present inside and outside of mental health treatment. It's human nature to apply past experiences and knowledge to current experiences. It's very possible that an individual could transfer their feelings without realizing it, especially in situations where objects or individuals are similar.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I believe in transference or grasp the concept. However, I know that my mood affects my family. If I am upset and unhappy, I bring down my family's mood. I know it makes my mom sad to see me sad. Also, a lot of times when I am angry, I take my anger out on my mom, even though it is not her fault. Would this be transference?
ReplyDeleteI think that Freud may think that because they are not completely knowledgeable about the topic. Especially because he says there is transference to each individual which doesn't exactly make that much sense to me. Even if the other person gets some of the feelings presented it should not have an effect
ReplyDeleteI would want to know what type of treatments that Freud gave to "Dora" as well. It appears that Freud based his analysis off of just what he thought might work instead of pure logic. I also feel that if any person spends a lot of time with another person they can connect and relate to each other. I dont see that as a "transference of emotions" rather understanding and then sympathizing.
ReplyDeleteI think it is somewhat reasonable to say that transference could have played a part in why Dora did not continue treatment with Freud. I feel when it comes to mentally ill patients and 'normal' individuals at well that transference occurs. For example, if someone had a bad experience when going to the doctor and receiving a shot, that he/she assumes that all doctors are the same way, therefore not wanting to return. When it comes to Dora's case, if she had a prior bad experience with a therapist or multiple therapist, it is very reasonable to say that she would infer that the same bad experience could occur with Freud.
ReplyDeleteTransference in mental health?
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that it does and did happen. the article stated that Dora showed transference from her previous doctor and her father. I believe this to be true because today, the way someone is treated by a certain race or sex does reflect different relationship in the future, For example if a child was beaten by their father, they would inturn distrust all father type people in the future.
I doubt that Dora would leave the treatment due to transference, but I do think that transference could be regarded as something real. Perhaps Freud oversold the idea, but people can have their feelings influenced from the environment around them. To what extent this played in the Dora case, I don't know for sure.
ReplyDeleteI think that Freud's assumption that hysteria can only be treated if the sexual desires of the patient effected by it are controlled to be false. Mainly because hysteria, for one, seems to be a mass of multiple symptoms that in all logical respect could or couldn't be related or caused by sexual desires. There could be others reasons for the symptoms of hysteria and they could be caused by the social environment that some of these women may have been put under and not just by their conflict with sexual desires.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hannah's comment in regards to patients who have had a bad experience in the past causing problems in the future. I strongly believe in Hannah's point at the end that if Dora had a bad experience with a therapist in the past it's reasonable to conclude she transferred those feelings to Freud.
ReplyDeleteI agree that some sort of transference of emotions occurs when talking to a therapist. Whether or not we realize it, events that occurred to us as children, that we may not necessarily remember, effect our thoughts and actions in the present. I think that talking with a therapist, someone who is digging into your memories and emotions, would make it easy for a patient to project feelings of anger, happiness, or sadness onto the person they are talking to.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your discussion question about why does the symptoms all relate to sexual desires for Freud's analysis. It could be possible that sexual desire is something "unretractable", something we can't hold back. If evaluating her sexual desires, one "knows" she is telling the truth, and not holding back, which we know may not be true. There could be other variables affecting her sexual desires.
ReplyDeleteHannah Lapin-
ReplyDeleteTaking your anger out on your mom when you're really angry at a friend would be a great example of transference. I definitely do this as well, and that's why I do believe that transference exists in one form or another.
I agree with Richard that it seems unlikely Dora would leave treatment because of transference. However, if transference isn't the reason she would leave treatment, what is?
ReplyDeleteI feel that this transference topic is a very interesting one. I believe that transference could have affected her relationship with Freud and if ti does exist it could hinder his ability to do good experiments with her or some of his other patients.
ReplyDeleteI believe that transference does exist. Also I think that transference was mostly responsible for Dora breaking off treatment because if she told many of her feelings to Freud, I could see her being uncomfortable in the fact that Freud didn't look for further signs of transference.
ReplyDeleteI believe that transference does exist, but that it has limited validity of it in terms of the efficacy of psychotherapy. Freud made a big deal about transference, claiming that it can be the downfall of psychoanalysis, and that transference must be controlled for. To me, transference is just the personal biases that individuals have due to their life experiences, and it is these biases that influence their decisions. For example, Freud claimed that the transference of Dora's previous therapist onto himself affected her decision to break treatment; however, Freud does not explore the possibility that she just didn't like her old therapist, and she broke treatment because of Freud's similarities.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of Freud's view on hysteria, I think that harboring on sexual dysfunction as an ultimate cause is ludicrous. For some reason, Freud decided that sex was the be-all-end-all, and I honestly believe it was just his cocaine addiction talking. Freud should only be analyzed on the grounds that his theories are outrageous and subjective, and that they do not say anything relevant about our natural world or human nature. Freud has taught us that humans have the tendency to uncover answers where there are none, and that the lack of objectivity promotes biases and false information.
@ Sheldon. I think that's an interesting point. Without having anything else to go on, physicians look to the womb as the cause of hysteria. They have a condition that puts a women in a "different" state of mind so they blame it on an organ that is "different" between men and women.
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